How to Hire Employees

How to hire employees. Hiring employees is a natural step in growing your small business. As your small business grows there comes a point when the work becomes too much for you to handle on your own. Many small business owners confuse the need of organization for the need of more help. Make sure this is not the case for you. Hiring employees can help you focus on expanding your small business while providing a fresh new perspective but they also come with disadvantages. Getting insurance, extra paperwork and extra taxes are a couple of factors you are subject to when hiring employees. You will also have to deal with situations such as employee theft, tardiness, firing employees and motivating employees. However it also has advantages as it can free some of your valuable time and allow you to do the things you like to do.

How to Hire Employees Steps

Step #1 Writing Job Descriptions

Before hiring employees you need to have a clear understanding of the position that needs to be filled. Therefore the first step in the hiring process is writing a job description. A job description is a statement detailing the job duties and responsibilities. After developing the job description you can then determine how much education and experience an employee should have to efficiently work in this position. You should then find out the salary range of other employees in similar job positions. This will help you determine how much to pay your employee. Keep in mind you can not pay below minimum wage. Be sure you are able to afford an employee before you hire one.

When recruiting candidates your goal is to attract a large quantity of qualified individuals to apply for your job position. You can do this through various recruiting methods.

Step #3 Screen Candidates

Before conducting any interviews you should first screen your potential employees to ensure you only interview the qualified candidates. Many people who do not have the necessary qualifications for the position will apply for the job so screening applicants can save you lots of time and energy.

You can screen potential employees by the following methods:

Review their resumes – You can ask potential employees to email or mail their resume to you.

Short phone interviews – You can screen potential candidates by conducting short phone interviews to inquire about their education history and past job experience.

Applications-You can also screen potential employees through applications. In your application be sure to include contact information, education background, employment history, and references. Be sure to have a section that asks for the candidate’s permission to contact past employers.

After you have shortened your list to the most qualified candidates you are ready to schedule interviews. Don’t settle for a good candidate, your employee should be GREAT. Your employee should have the necessary qualifications. When conducting interviews be sure to avoid illegal interview questions.

Checking your candidate’s references is your opportunity to get first hand information about your candidate and their past work experiences. Be wearing when conducting reference checks as references may lie or embellish the truth.

Step #6 Making the Hire

So you have finally decided on a new addition to your business. Congratulations! Now you can call the lucky candidate and tell him/her the good news. As a courtesy you can choose to send an email to the candidates who didn’t make the cut. You can include statements such as “We appreciate you taking the time to apply for our job position” and “We wish you the best of luck in the future.”

Step #7 Completing legal paperwork

As an employer it is your responsibilty to ensure you meet all legal requirements. You must obtain an Employer’s Identification Number(EIN) and you are reqired to have worker’s compensation insurance. Be aware that you will be responsible for making social security tax payments for your employees. Read Business.gov’s guide to hiring employees for more information.

1 thought on “How to Hire Employees”

Terrific Summary. Sometimes with more complicated positions, it helps to do a job analysis before creating a job description in order to be sure you have documented and captured all the elements of the job including how the person will be measured once hired. Understanding this type of information is invaluable in both the recruiting and screening process for these higher level positions. Thanks again for the overview.